Concept Brief: The competition calls for the design of a 60 to 80-person wilderness base camp facility for overnight stays at the Sierra Nevadas. There is a paradoxical theme in the concept of developing national parks for public use and enjoyment. This proposal will not retell those fables, but will try to define the meaning of nature, place and program for a building on its fourth incarnation; as well as to reevaluate what is gtaken for granted to be an 'ecological approach' to building in the wilderness. Water defines the landscape of the Sierra Nevada and is a major generator for the proposal. The building sits perpendicular to the flow of Big Pine Creek, with its length opening to the view of the Palisade crest. The exterior flows seamlessly through the main dining space that becomes a library at night. Fabric pods of 5 beds are equally interchangeable with hammocks, mountaineering sacks that open out to become ledges; or the conventional bed in the open dormitory. To take advantage of the windy site, micro wind collectors are integrated in the building facade serving as 'vertical axis wind turbines'. Solar water collectors installed on the roof heat water for the outdoor sauna pool. credit: Linda Douglas, environmental consultant and researcher at the Urban Initiatives group of Environment Defense Canada.